


elephant

by demistories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Identity Reveal, Reveal, and also, assassin game, dude they're just playing assassin, goofing off, the ruining of friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7063984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demistories/pseuds/demistories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim stands at the front of room. He crosses his arms and nods to the game code and password on the board. “Welcome to mother. <i>Fucking. <b>Assassin.</b></i>” He leans forward with a dangerous look in his eyes. “You’ve got until midnight. Then you better run.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. round one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taynicola](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taynicola/gifts).



> my class is playing assassin and while i'm not playing i sure and LOVE IT. super mega shoutout to [mraculous](http://mraculous.tumblr.com) for letting me steal some of her ideas and helping me out with this [super incredible post](http://buglad.tumblr.com/post/145266269608/mraculous-buglad-mraculous-buglad)
> 
> assassin can be played in a lot of different ways, but in this fic they'll be using the rules i know because it's easiest. here are the basics: everyone gets a target and everyone is getting hunted. if you ‘assassinate’ someone, you get their target. the winner is the last one standing. 
> 
> classrooms are safe zones during class. after class is dismissed, they're free game. hallways are always free, and outside the school is free (yes that includes your house). there are other safe zones like between certain lockers etc. 
> 
> the weapons you can use are markers inside the school and nerf guns or markers anywhere else. to be 'assassinated' you must be hit on the arms or neck with a marker, or anywhere on your torso with a nerf dart. 
> 
> if you know who's hunting you and you see them within three feet of you, you can yell elephant, and they can't come after you for an hour. 
> 
> enjoy the madness.

Max is technically the one who set up the game, but Kim is the one who comes up with the idea. He bet Alix that he could take out more people than her, and she took him up on the bet with a violent handshake and a “oh you are fucking  _ on _ .” 

Kim stands at the front of room. He crosses his arms and nods to the game code and password on the board. “Welcome to mother.  _ Fucking.  _ **_Assassin._ ** ” He leans forward with a dangerous look in his eyes. “You’ve got until midnight. Then you better  _ run _ .” 

* * *

Marinette doesn’t think twice as she signs up. Alya weighs the pros and cons of it while spinning in circles in Marinette’s desk chair. 

“Pro: super fun. Con: anxiety inducing.” 

Marinette rolls her eyes with a smile. Assassin is going to be  _ nothing  _ compared to Hawk Moth’s akumas. Markers and nerf guns are weak compared to the projectiles the akumas throw. 

If Marinette can handle anything, it’s a simple little game of Assassin. 

“Pro: possibly get to assassinate Chloé. Con: Probably won’t be able to sit still in class until I’ve died.” 

Marinette puts down her pencil. “Do you sit still usually?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. 

Alya points her pen at her. “Good point.” She slams her hands down on Marinette’s desk. “Let’s do this!” 

* * *

Marinette stares at the name on her screen. The clock had ticked to 12:01. She has her first target.

She texts Alya.

**From: quite contrary <3**  
**To: lois lane**  
     Oh god I CANT DO THIS

* * *

Marinette walks to school armed with a loaded nerf gun and three Sharpies, all bright red. There’s something about the red that’s motivating. Maybe it’s the brightness. Maybe it’s the reminder that she is, in fact, Ladybug, and could do this in her sleep. Maybe it’s because red is the color of blood. 

She’ll leave her mark as Ladybug, even if she isn’t Ladybug at the time. 

It’s one thing to keep her eyes peeled, it’s another to watch her back with Chat around to help her. Of course the neck and arms are where they have to be hit. Back of the neck is the easiest and there is mothing like constantly looking over your shoulder. 

By the time she gets to class, eighteen of the seventy eight people playing have been taken out. For once, she’s really glad she’s late for class, even if she does slam her back against the locker when someone leaves a classroom. They give her a once over and notice the marker, the color from their face draining as they run in the other direction. She squeezes her marker tightly in her hand and keeps her back to the lockers until she’s close enough to slip into the classroom. 

She lets out a sigh of relief as she slides into her seat, glancing around the room. Chloé meets Marinette’s eye and raises an eyebrow, drawing a perfectly manicured finger across her neck. 

Marinette gulps and looks back to the board. She can do this. She’s already fought most of these people before. It’s just a little game of assassin. 

* * *

About halfway through class, Alya slides over a piece of paper. Marinette looks over to see Alya wink. On the paper is an intricate chart of who’s been taken out and by whom. All of Alya’s guesses of who has who are scribbled on the bottom with notes and question marks surrounding them. 

Marinette raises her eyebrows. She hadn’t even thought to try and figure out who had her, at least not yet. The list of people is long and daunting. She skims the list quickly. Of the people in the room, Sabrina and Mylène have been taken out. Mylène by someone in a different class and Sabrina by…Chloé. 

Brutal. 

“There are no friends in assassin,” Alya says with a smirk as they start packing up. “There’s only death.”

* * *

Marinette watches in awe as Adrien and Nino walk through the hallways talking and laughing. She has her back pressed to the wall again, keeping her eyes on all the doors until she can run. It’s like they’re just strolling through the park, and she isn’t sure how they’re so calm. 

She covers her mouth to stifle a laugh as Adrien casually dots the back of Alix’s neck. 

Alix stiffens before turning around to glare Adrien into the ground. Adrien just smiles and waves at her. 

“THE QUEEN HAS FALLEN,” Kim yells as he makes a break for the door, Nathanaël panting as he runs after him. 

Alix sticks her middle fingers up at him as he passes. Then she turns to Adrien with a snap. “How the  _ fuck _ ?!” 

Adrien shrugs. “Can I have your code?”

“I  _ heard you coming!” _

He holds up his marker. He smirks and draws another green dot on each of her arms. “You’ve been killed.”

Alix screams and kicks a locker. 

“Holy shit,” Alya murmurs, rubbing the back of her neck.

Marinette just nods. 

* * *

Marinette drags a hand down her face. “Alya I  _ can’t _ .” 

“You have to,” Alya points out. 

“I actually  _ don’t _ .” 

“Uh huh.” Alya rereads her list. “If I’m right, he took out four people today.” She gives Marinette a pointed look. 

Marinette sighs and slumps down in the chair. “Yeah, but—”

“Why can’t you do it?” Alya pulls out a blank piece of paper so she can start a new list with the shuffled targets. 

Marinette flaps her hands. “Because it’s  _ Adrien _ .” She lifts up her phone to see the name ‘Adrien Agreste’ on the screen. It’s been there all day, taunting her.

“Yeah, and he’ll take you out without blinking an eye.” Alya rolls her eyes. “I doubt he’ll hold a grudge if you murder him in cold blood. This  _ is _ assassin.” 

Marinette shuts her eyes. Alya’s right. Feelings don’t matter right now. Feelings don’t matter in assassin. 

“There’s only thirty two people left,” Alya reminds her. “It’s not like you have forever.” 

“Fine.” Marinette opens her eyes. “I mean… I’ll get him, but I won’t be too intense about it.” 

Alya stares at her for a second. “If you say so,” she mutters, shaking her head. 

* * *

If someone can tell Marinette why she ever thought this was a good idea, that’d be great. 

Although Adrien’s schedule has been removed from her pulldown calendar, she still has most of it memorized. It’s not like it was hard, most of his activities repeat weekly. 

And that is why she’s crouched behind his limo. 

Her legs are starting to hurt, and the nerf gun probably going to leave imprints on her palms when she stops holding it so tightly. How his driver hasn’t seen her yet, she’s not sure. She doesn’t think the giant man would let anything near Adrien, but maybe he makes exceptions for small teenage girls with nerf guns that look completely terrified. 

She knew exactly when fencing practice got out, she should’ve come later. 

She hears the doors of the car unlock and prays that this works. Because otherwise… _ awkward. _

Marinette yanks the limo door open and slides inside, closing the door behind her. She ducks behind the driver’s seat as Adrien’s driver looks up with a grunt. She’s pretty sure he knows she’s here, but she’s fine as long as he doesn’t say anything. 

She takes a few deep breaths, her heartbeat racing. Why is this the most terrifying thing she’s ever done?  

The other door opens and sunlight streams into the car. Adrien is turned away from the door, talking to someone she can’t see—

Marinette closes her eyes and shoots. 

She hears the foam dart hit him and opens an eye to see him staring down at his chest. He looks up to meet her eyes and she’s pretty sure she flatlines. 

Then she screams, dives past him out of the car, and starts running. 

* * *

She’s aggressively sewing when her phone starts buzzing. 

“Marinette!” Tikki pipes up. 

“One sec,” Marinette says, voice muffled as she talks around the needle between her lips. “Who is it?” 

Tikki shrugs. “Unknown number.” 

“Huh.” Marinette puts down the skirt and needle. She picks up her phone, reads the message, screeches, and throws her phone across the room. She buries her head in her hands and keeps screaming. 

“Mari? What is it?” 

She waves one of her hands at where her phone lays on the ground. 

Tikki sighs and floats over. She hovers for a second, reading the message. “It’s nothing bad, Mari. I promise.” 

Marinette lifts her head from her hands. “You sure?” 

“Absolutely!” She zips over and nuzzles Marinette’s cheek. “It’ll be fine.”

Marinette eyes her phone warily. “Okay…if you say so.” She stands up and picks it up carefully, taking a deep breath before reading the rest of the message. 

**From: Unknown Number**  
**To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng**  
     Hi, Marinette! This is Adrien. I got your number from Alya, I hope you don’t mind. I was just wondering if you wanted my code for assassin so you could make if official and get my target.  
     Which is Nathanaël, by the way. 

Marinette sighs and rests her forehead against the wall. Deleting Adrien’s number after that _minor incident_ hadn’t actually stopped him from being able to contact her. Staying with her forehead pressed against the wall, she adds him to her contacts — no nickname, no flourishes, just  _ Adrien _ — and responds. 

She can’t believe she forgot to get his code. Good going. 

**From: Marinette Dupain-Cheng**  
**To: Adrien**  
     It’s fine!! And your code would be great, thanks

She sends it and then throws her phone across the room again. 

* * *

Marinette bends down to see under the desk. “Nathanaël? What are you doing?” 

“Uh…” Nathanaël blushes slightly and holds up a marker. “I’ve got Kim.” 

Kim. Right. There are only about fifteen people still in the game. Kim is slowly taking them out one by one. 

“So you’re hiding under your desk?” Marinette asks. 

Nathanaël nods. “I’m going to jump out at him.”

“Makes sense. It’s a good plan.” 

“Tha—” 

Her hand darts out and she presses a red dot to his neck, right under his hair. “Sorry,” she apologizes as he sighs and slumps against the desk. 

“It’s okay,” he says. “Help me out from under here?”

* * *

It winds down. Ten people are left. Then five. Marinette bides her time. 

Alya takes out Nino, to which he says, “ _ babe _ ”, offended and hurt. 

“Not this week,” Alya says, dropping a kiss on his cheek. “Better luck next time.”

Alya’s taken out a few hours later. She collapses dramatically onto Marinette’s bed before pulling out her notebook and figuring out who’s left. 

“You going to do it soon?” Alya asks. “Because soon it’s just going to be you against Kim.” 

Marinette shrugs. “I’ll get him eventually.” 

* * *

Marinette keeps her back against the lockers, waiting until she hears Kim’s voice. She snuck in before anyone could see her, because she no longer trusts people to keep her secrets. Sure, there are some people who want Kim to lose, but others want her to. So she is solo. 

As she hears the door open and Kim’s voice mingling with others, she closes her eyes and channels Ladybug the best she can. 

She peeks around the corner and sees Kim with his back to her. Perfect. She slips off her shoes for traction and silence, and when the coast is clear, she moves. 

Marinette sprints up behind him. She pushes a hand and foot against the lockers to her left, launching herself into the air past Kim’s shoulder. As she passes him, she draws a bright red line across his neck. 

And she lands on the ground and skids to a stop, the room is silent. 

Kim slowly reaches back, feeling the blood red line Marinette’s Sharpie left. He pulls his hands back, staring at his fingers as if they were covered in blood. 

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. 

Marinette looks over her shoulder to Kim, smirking and twirling the marker in her fingers for him to see. 

Kim drops to the floor with a howl. 

The room erupts in screams. Alix is shouting victory as she shoves her middle fingers in Kim’s face. Adrien is watching her with his jaw dropped. Alya and Nino cheer and Max pats Kim’s back as he hangs his head in defeat. 

Marinette smiles victoriously, wiping off her hands. 

The king has fallen. _ Bien joué. _


	2. round two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alix slams her hands on the table. "Welcome to round motherfucking two of assassin!” she shouts. “Starts at 12:01, same rules apply, but this time, be less shitty. It’s no fun when everyone sucks ass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to get this up yesterday, but life didn’t work that way. whoops. anyway, thanks to everyone in the ml-network for screaming about this with me! it made me want to write this forever tbh.

Alix slams her hands on the table. "Welcome to round motherfucking two of assassin!” she shouts. “Starts at 12:01, same rules apply, but this time, be less shitty. It’s no fun when everyone sucks ass.”

“You got taken out by Adrien walking down the hall,” Nino says smugly.

She glares at him. “Watch it bubble butt I’m come for you,” she snarls. She turns back to the rest of the class. “Join or die.”

* * *

 

Adrien isn’t afraid to admit that he’s a lot more hesitant about joining the game the second time around. He hadn’t realized how  _ brutal _ it was going to be. Or the anxiety it was going to induce. 

There was something terrifying about watching people sprint through the hallways and leap out from behind lockers. It was like his life had suddenly become one giant video game. And all of his years of gaming had in no way prepared him for it. 

He’d thought that maybe being Chat Noir would help out a little bit. Maybe a tiny bit. 

But nothing had prepared him for Marinette shooting him _ from inside his car.  _ That was legal, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about. 

Marinette was  _ brutal. _ He'd known she was competitive as hell, but he hadn’t realized how far that competitive streak went. When she assassinated Kim, all Adrien had been able to do was watch in awe. The way she'd launched herself into the air, the quick flick of her wrist to leave a blood red line, her smirk as Kim fell to the ground screaming. 

There was something about that smirk that made his stomach twist itself into a thousand knots. 

And still, the thought of being able to take out Marinette is very appealing. Appealing enough that he joins the game three minutes before it starts. 

“Here we go again,” Plagg mutters. 

* * *

There’s something about assassin that drags Adrien in and keeps him there. Maybe it’s the constant adrenaline rush. Maybe it’s the satisfying feeling of marker touching skin. Maybe it’s just the fact that he can be a little more Chat Noir than usual. 

He leaves his house with a pocket full of neon green Sharpies. It’s just another color to everyone else, but it gives him the slightest boost of confidence.

He goes on the defensive as soon as he opens the door of the limo, nodding to the Gorilla.  He immediately hears someone scream, “FUCKING SHIT” as they get killed, their assassin laughing. 

School hasn’t even started and thirteen people are dead. 

Adrien isn’t too worried though. Half of the players will be dead by the end of the day. He knows who he needs to worry about. 

He drops three spots on Juleka’s arm in a paw print pattern as he walks over to Nino. She blinks in surprise and looks down at them. “Huh.” 

Adrien smiles. “Can I have your code?” 

Juleka just sighs and turns away from Rose. 

There’s something satisfying about being able to click ‘Target Assassinated’. He types in her code as she says it and raises his eyebrows when he sees his new target. Alya. 

Juleka smiles a little. “Good luck.”

He nods, already scheming. Alya is good. Not someone he’s too worried about, but she’s sneaky and knows what she’s doing. Not to mention she can easily get Marinette on her side. “Thanks.”

Juleka smirks. “You’re going to need it.

Adrien just scoffs. “Rest in peace.”

* * *

“You know what I love about being Chat Noir?” 

Ladybug lifts her head from her chin in surprise. She’d been quiet all night, lost in thought with an intense look of concentration on her face. “Hm?” 

“My favorite part about being Chat Noir is that no one knows who I am.” He puts his hands behind his head. 

“Aren’t you the one who always wants to reveal our identities to each other?” she asks, amused. 

“Ah but Paris,” he says, gesturing to the city below, “they don’t know. No one knows. And I’m safe.” 

As Chat Noir, he’s always been able to be more free. He doesn’t have to think about being polite or proper or be the son that his father wants him to be. Now it has the added benefits of being incredible protection against assassins. They can’t assassinate Adrien Agreste if Adrien Agreste doesn’t currently exist. Chat has always been his safe spot, now more so than before. 

Ladybug gives him a confused look. “Safe?” 

Chat closes his eyes and relaxes. “I’m safe.” 

* * *

Nino keeps looking at him. 

Adrien knows that Nino has Ivan, but he still keeps glancing over to him. 

“What?” Adrien whispers as soon as the teacher turns to the board. 

Nino shakes his head. 

It almost definitely has to do with the assassin game. It’s been three days, and Adrien hasn’t made a move on his next target. There are only thirteen people left. Even though the targets shuffle at midnight each night, it takes everyone less than an hour to figure out who everyone is hunting.

Adrien has been playing it safe, letting his targets shuffle and switch. He’s not letting his guard down, but he hopes other people will. Besides, he’s glad he waited until today. 

Adrien is pretty sure Max will have a complete list of who has who by the end of class. In five… Four… Three… Two… 

The bell rings and Kim bolts out of the room, off after his next target. Nino plasters himself to a wall and Rose screeches “ELEPHANT” at the top of lungs as Max walks near her. 

Adrien just pulls his bag onto his shoulder and strolls out of the room. 

He’ll get Marinette before the day is over. 

* * *

Chloé shrieks as Marinette darts forward and scribbles a red dot on the side of her neck. She grabs her neck and shoves Marinette away. “You little  _ bitch! _ ”  

“It doesn’t count!” Sabrina pipes up. “It’s not on the back of her neck!”

Nino rolls his eyes. “Dude, it totally counts.” 

Chloé glares at him. “MAX!” she yells. 

Max scrambles to the front of the room, squeaking and ducking out of Ivan’s glare. He glances at Chloé’s neck. “Fair.” 

“Fair?!” she snaps. 

“It’s behind the ear,” Max says, straightening. “We defined back of the neck as behind the ear. It’s fair. You’ve been killed.” 

Chloé turns to Marinette and grabs her by her jacket. “You’re going to pay for this next round,” she hisses. 

Marinette rolls her eyes. “What are you going to do? Chase after me?”

Chloé hisses her code to Marinette before letting go of her jacket and pushing her back. “Just wait,” she grumbles, storming out of the room with Sabrina in tow. 

Marinette just caps her Sharpie and smiles triumphantly. 

Nino puts a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “Good luck.” 

* * *

Adrien is actually impressed that there’s only seven people left by the end of the day. In the last game slowed down dramatically after they got down to twenty assassins. 

He’s also impressed by the fact that Marinette doesn’t seem to know that she’s his target yet. He can tell nearly everyone else does by the way they eye him as he passes them in the hallway. 

And judging by the way Alya reaches for her phone when he walks to his locker, she knows. And if Alya knows and Marinette doesn’t, something has to be going on. 

For now, Adrien is going to assume that it’s because everyone loves revenge assassinations. There’s something about them that is so much more satisfying than just watching someone get assassinated. 

Adrien gets what he needs from his locker as the room fills. He probably shouldn’t be as comfortable as he is with his back to everyone. He shuts his locker and feels everyone’s eyes on him. 

He hears “you  _ dick _ ” and takes that as a cue. 

“Hey Marinette,” he says, walking over to her locker. 

Alya’s eyes widen and she starts to slowly back away. 

Adrien puts a hand in his pocket and grabs a Sharpie, uncapping it but keeping it in his pocket. He notices the room quieting and people being shushed. He ignores it and focuses on his mission. He leans against the locker next to Marinette’s as she stares at him, her face red. 

“H-hi,” she stutters. 

He smiles and leans forward. She tenses, blushing furiously. When he’s close enough to whisper in her ear, he whispers, “You’re out,” and dots her neck with his Sharpie. 

Adrien pulls away with a smirk as the room starts screaming. Marinette shrieks and reaches up to touch her neck. She glares daggers at him and he thinks if he wasn’t riding a wave of victory he’d probably melt under it.  “Y-you!” 

“Code?” he asks innocently. 

“I—” She sputters and stutters, unable to get out the words. She scowls and snatches his Sharpie from him scribbling the code on his hand before throwing the Sharpie at him and marching over to Alya. 

Nino grabs Adrien’s hand and yanks it into the air. “YEAH!” 

Adrien laughs and cheers along with the rest of the room. 

Marinette whirls around and points at him. “You better  _ watch your  _ **_back_ ** **.** ”

* * *

Adrien noticed that people tend to underestimate Max. That’s their first mistake. Max might not be the most competitive or athletic, but he’s a strategist. He always knows where everyone was and who everyone has. He might shy away from looming figures like Ivan, but he can swoop in and hit a target as well as Alix or Kim. And the fact that he took down Alix almost effortlessly was proof. 

Still, Adrien isn’t too worried about being the final two. Adrien doesn’t think people underestimate him, definitely not after Marinette’s assassination, but he doesn’t usually have to put too much effort into planning to get his targets. It’s not too painful of a game for him. 

Until Max is chasing him through the school. 

Adrien probably should’ve checked that hallway before he walked down it. 

* * *

Adrien dives behind Nino, using him as a shield. “Elephant!” he shouts with a wince. There goes his safe word. 

Max narrows his eyes and backs down. “I’m watching you, Agreste.” 

“Goddamn,” Nino says as Max walks away. 

Adrien slumps against the wall. “Tell me about it.” 

* * *

“This feels like cheating,” Plagg says. 

Adrien raises his eyebrows. “How? And since when are you against cheating?”

“Since it started keeping cheese out of my stomach,” Plagg complains. 

Adrien shushes him and keeps hidden in the alley. He should be at a photoshoot and Max knows it. But akuma have a fun way of derailing plans. Or in this case, making everything line up  _ perfectly. _

“Purrfect,” Adrien says with a cheshire grin.

As Max passes the alley with Kim, Adrien leaps out. He draws a long green line down Max’s neck with a victorious shout. 

Max stares at him in surprise as Kim starts laughing. 

“Holy  _ shit _ he got you good!” Kim punches Adrien’s arm. “Ass move, Agreste, we had everything planned out.” 

Max pushes his glasses up his nose. “But…you had a photoshoot until four thirty!” 

Adrien shrugs a shoulder and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Code?” 

“I can’t believe this,” Max says, still shocked. 

Adrien smirks. Now this feels like a fist bump worthy win.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i can't write kim)
> 
> one more round!!!
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](http://buglad.tumblr.com)! come scream with me about these kids


	3. round three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max clears his throat and motions to the board. “Seeing how long our other games have been and seeing how many days are left in school this year, there should—”
> 
> Alix jumps up on a chair. “IT’S ROUND THREE, GET READY TO GET YOUR ASSES KICKED.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY WHAT
> 
> ok i have sats in the morning so i GOTTA GO BUT TAKE THIS QUICK!! also read [emma's ending](http://buglad.tumblr.com/post/145266269608/mraculous-buglad-mraculous-buglad) bc i love it even though i didn't use it!
> 
> enjoy!!!!

Max clears his throat and motions to the board. “Seeing how long our other games have been and seeing how many days are left in school this year, there should—” 

Alix jumps up on a chair. “IT’S ROUND THREE, GET READY TO GET YOUR ASSES KICKED.” 

* * *

 

Marinette is going to win this. She is going to win this one. So she’d frozen up when it came to Adrien. She wouldn’t make the same mistake this time, she’s sure of it. Now she knows, now she’s ready. 

At 12:01, the game starts. Marinette gathers her weapons. 

Aurore better look out. 

* * *

Adrien is realizing he’s way more in this to win this than he originally realized. But it’s too late now. 

Chasing Alya down the hallways maybe isn’t his most subtle attempt, but it’s the best he can do at the moment.

Just as he reaches out to mark her neck, she shoves Marinette in front of her. Marinette gasps and catches Adrien by the arms, glaring back at Alya. 

“Really?!” she shouts. 

“Sorry,” Alya says as she sprints out the door. “I already used my elephant today!”

Marinette shakes her head and turns back to Adrien. He doesn’t think she realized that he drew a green line across her right cheek. She flushes when she realizes who she’s caught. 

“A-are you alright?” she asks, quickly letting go of his arms. 

Adrien nods and runs his hand through his hair. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine!” Marinette says quickly. She glances back to the door. “A-Alya just—” 

He glances over her shoulder. Alya is long gone at this point. It’s fine, it just sets him back a little bit. “I’ll get her later.” He turns back to Marinette. “Are you alright?”

She blinks. “M-me?” 

“Yeah, I sort of…” He motions to her cheek. 

She reaches up, fingers brushing the line he drew. “Oh. Oh, yeah, I’m fine! It’s just marker.”

“Okay, great. I’m going to…” He gestures to the door. 

“Yeah yeah, o-of course!” Marinette steps out of the way, and Adrien runs. 

* * *

Marinette is proud of herself. It’s was a good day one of the game. She got three targets and didn’t catch the slightest whiff of her own assassin. 

She’s having way too much fun with this game. 

She’s still thinking about it when she swings up to meet Chat for patrol. 

“Hey, my La—” He cuts off when he turns around and looks at her. 

Ladybug frowns. “What is it, Chat? Is something wrong?” 

His eyes are wide in surprise and he steps closer, leaning forward to study her face. 

She leans back a little. “Um…Chat?” 

“That’s my color,” he says. 

Oh. 

Oh  _ shit _ . 

She knew she’d forgotten something. Adrien’s line. She’d meant to wash it off but then she was distracted by assassinating Lila and a new design. She rolls her eyes. “Neon green isn’t  _ your _ color, Chat. Colors don’t belong to anyone.” 

Lips slightly parted, Chat lifts his hand to her face. She freezes, unsure of what to do as his thumb lightly traces the mark. “That’s my color,” he breathes. His thumb hovers just over her lips. 

Ladybug’s breath catches in her throat. 

Chat meets her eyes. It’s like he’s looking for something in them. He tilts his head to the side.

“What is it?” she asks softly. She doesn’t know what he’s doing, but her heart feels like it’s going to pound right out of her chest. 

He hesitates and then whispers, “Mari?” 

Her heart stops.

* * *

Ladybug yanks away and runs. He would run after her, but he’s frozen in place, hand still hovering where her cheek used to be. 

He did not expect this to come out of a game of assassin. 

Chat stands there until a honking car breaks his trance. 

_ Marinette. _

* * *

Marinette scrubs her face as hard as she can. 

This line. This little line. This  _ fucking line. _

That’s it! That’s all it took!

She grabs the sides of the sink and hangs her head, sniffling and trying to hold back any more tears. She hates how weak crying makes her feel. Tikki has been trying to comfort her, but it’s not helping her world from falling apart. 

Chat is going to hate her. 

Marinette squeezes her eyes shut tight. She can still feel his hand on her face as he whispers, “That’s my color.” The way his thumb ran down her cheek and—

Her eyes snap open. 

She runs back to her room, Tikki demanding to know what’s wrong. Marinette digs through the blankets on her bed, looking for her phone. She almost trips down from her bed, stumbling over to her desk and knocking all of her books over. She finds it beneath a half made skirt. 

As she holds it up victorious, she looks up to a knock on her windows. 

Chat is balancing on his baton outside her windows. Her stomach twists violently and she nearly drops her phone. He motions to her balcony and she can barely nod in agreement. 

Marinette opens her trap door and gets onto the balcony, but she hangs back, arms wrapped around herself. Chat balances on the balcony railing, watching her with wide, unblinking eyes. 

She looks away. She hadn’t had enough time to prepare herself for this. 

“I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. 

Marinette glances toward him in surprise. 

“I didn’t mean to,” he promises. He slowly moves to stand on the balcony, watching her. Probably for some sort of reaction. She doesn’t react. He holds up his hands in surrender and keeps his back against the railing. “I wanted to respect your boundaries. I just… It was an accident. And entirely my fault. In every way.” He winces. 

She sighs and hugs herself tighter. She looks up to the night sky, watery eyes searching for stars in a light polluted sky. 

She can hear Chat moving to climb back over the railing. He’s her partner, she knows how to listen for him and feel for him. As soft as possible, he says, “I’m just—” 

“Adrien,” she interrupts. Her voice cracks a little bit. It along with his eyes on her make her shrink backward. 

“My Lady,” he answers.

Marinette looks to him and forces a smile. Her eyes are starting to overflow. “It’s okay.” 

Chat stares at her for a long moment. And then he nods. He nods and leaps up onto the railing before jumping off, catching himself on his baton and launching himself to the next roof. 

Marinette takes a deep breath and leans against the wall. “It’s okay,” she murmurs to herself. 

* * *

Adrien paces around his room. He has his new target, someone he’ll have to ask Nino about, but that’s not what’s keeping him up. His phone buzzes, and he dives onto his bed to grab it. He watches as texts pile up on the screen, unsure of when to jump in.

**From: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
** **To: Adrien  
**      Hi um  
     I’m really sorry about tonight  
     I just  
     Panicked?   
     Sorry  
      I’m sorry

**From: Adrien  
** **To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
**        It’s alright  
      I’m sorry too

**From: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
** **To: Adrien  
**        No no noonoo  
     Don’t be sorry  
      I was the one who overreacted  
      And I probably shouldn’t have done that??????   
      Oh my god I’m so sorry you don’t want to be hearing this at 1 am  
     What am I doing  
      I should just shut up 

Adrien laughs. 

“Gross,” Plagg grumbles. “Let me sleep.”

Adrien hushes Plagg and scratches him behind the ears. He rereads Marinette’s texts and resists the urge to press his nose to the screen. There’s something about her frantic texting that is so is so  _ her _ . 

**From: Adrien  
** **To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
     ** How about we both say we’re sorry and leave it at that?

**From: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
** **To: Adrien  
**        Yes ok that’s a good idea  
      Oh god it’s late  
      I should’ve been asleep hours ago  
      I was panicking  
     Sorry

**From: Adrien  
** **To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
     ** You should sleep then 

**From: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
** **To: Adrien  
**        Right  
     Sleep  
     Of course  
      Night kitten

Adrien stares at the screen in surprise. The butterflies in his stomach flutter violently. He should not feel this way about a  _ text _ . 

**From: Adrien  
** **To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
     ** Night, Princess

* * *

Marinette has never been so glad that they’re playing assassin. It gives her something to think about other than the fact that Adrien is Chat. Chat is Adrien. They’re on in the same. 

_ And she kissed Adrien Agreste. _

But that’s not important. What is important is that she needs to assassinate Lila. 

Unfortunately, she’s forced to think about the whole Adrien/Chat situation a lot more when she transforms into Ladybug to get away from Mireille. Fortunately, she’s holding a nerf gun when she transforms. 

She’s not exactly sure what to do with it as she swings through the streets of Paris. Usually things disappear when she transforms. Until she sees Chat leaping across the roofs. 

Ladybug looks down at the gun in her hand and smirks. 

Payback.

* * *

Okay, so maybe transforming into Chat Noir was a cop out, but Adrien is willing to let it slide. No big deal. 

He almost falls off the roof when he’s shot in the back. He skids to a stop and watches the foam nerf dart hit the roof. He stares at it in surprise. “Wha—”

His head jerks up as he hears laughter. Ladybug swings by, saluting him with a nerf gun in hand. He snatches up the dart and runs in the other direction. 

Oh she is  _ on _ . 

* * *

Ladybug can’t help but scream when Chat jumps out of the shadows and points a nerf gun at her, yelling at her to put ‘em up. She moves to lift up her own gun, but he nails her right in the shoulder. 

Chat has an ammo belt slung over his shoulder and a dangerous glint in his eyes. “My Lady.” 

Ladybug raises an eyebrow. “Overkill much?” 

“Nope!” He starts shooting rapidly and she runs away laughing. They race each other over roofs and across the streets of Paris, scooping up darts as they pass them again. Civilians duck out of the way and toss darts back to them, cheering them on and videotaping them. 

Maybe for once everyone is really acknowledging the fact that Ladybug and Chat Noir are just teenagers. But Ladybug and Chat Noir don’t care. 

“That makes twenty two hits!” Chat shouts at her as she swings around a corner. 

“And I’ve got twenty three!” she shouts back. Along the way she’d picked up an ammo belt of her own from a random civilian. It crosses her mind that Alya’s probably having a ball with this. And then she swings up sharply to avoid getting hit. 

* * *

Ladybug laughs, breathless and bright. Chat watches her with a soft smile, trying not to stare too obviously. Her hair is windswept and her cheeks are pink and she’s so  _ happy _ . It’s so rare that he gets to see her like this. 

They’re sitting on the Eiffel Tower, their legs swinging over the edge. They’ve collected all the darts they can and are catching their breath. Without an akuma to worry about or even patrols, it’s a completely different atmosphere. He doesn’t feel like a superhero at all. He’s just a teenage boy enjoying time with his best friend. 

“I can’t believe you  _ assassinated me _ ,” he says in disbelief. 

Ladybug rolls her eyes. “It’s not like I had you.” 

Chat humphs. 

“But…” She narrows her eyes thoughtfully. “We should probably have some rules.” 

He tenses. He should’ve known this was coming. 

“We can’t be assassinated while Chat and Ladybug,” she says, counting off on her fingers, “because we aren’t Marinette and Adrien.”

Chat lets out a soft sigh of relief. 

Ladybug flicks his bell. He looks down at it before smiling up to her. She smirks. “And before you get any ideas, silly cat, you can’t assassinate anyone while transformed. Because like I said, we’re  _ not _ Marinette and Adrien right now. Fair rules?” 

Chat nods. “Fair.” He leans back on his hands. “Do you know how many people are left?” 

She hums. “Before we transformed it was forty two.”

“Forty two,” he repeats. “I bet I can take out more people than you.” 

She scoffs. “Wasn’t that how this thing started?” 

He leans over so their noses are nearly touching. “Are you turning me down, bugaboo?” 

She smiles sweetly and pushes him away. “I just think that we’d be more efficient as a team.” 

“Are you suggesting an alliance?”

“Are you accepting?” She holds out a hand.

Chat takes it. “Allies it is.” 

* * *

 

Marinette twirls her Sharpie in her fingers as she gets the code from her latest target. As she types it in, a notification pops up.

**From: Tomcat  
** **To: Princess Marinette  
**        Ivan is down.  
      Need any help? 

She gets her next target’s name before responding. 

**From: Tomcat  
** **To: Princess Marinette  
**        No I’m good  
      And my next target is just as easy  
      You don’t know them I’ll point them out to you at some point  
      Are you good? 

**From: Tomcat  
** **To: Princess Marinette  
     ** Never better, Princess <3

Marinette rolls her eyes and tries not to blush. With Adrien on her side, they’ve taken down a total of eleven people today. People know they’re allies now, especially after they fist bumped after getting Kim. 

Alya had dragged Marinette to the side whispering, “You’re going to have to kill him eventually, right?” 

Marinette just shrugged and smiled. “I know.” 

* * *

Adrien meets Marinette’s eyes as he hits ‘Target Assassinated’ and types in Nathanaël’s code. He’s the last one. It’s down to the two of them. Marinette gives him a small smile. The room is silent. 

He slides his phone into his pocket and holds out a hand. “It was nice while it lasted.” 

Marinette shakes it. “It was.” 

And then Adrien yanks her forward and tries to get the back of her neck. At the same time, Marinette tries for his arm. 

“GO GO GO!” Alix screams. 

They spin in a circle, struggling, and then break away. Adrien sprints to the door, laughing as Marinette is on his tail. 

“Come and catch me!” he shouts as he dives in his limo. 

“Fuck you!” she yells back. He can practically hear the smile in her voice as the door slams shut behind him. 

* * *

“Nice to see you,” Chat says with a two finger salute. 

Ladybug raises her eyebrows. “ _ Nice _ .”

He laughs and rests his chin on his baton. “Interesting then.” 

Interesting indeed. It’s been four days. The entire school is emotionally invested in this. Marinette had nearly gotten Adrien, but he danced away just in time. Adrien had almost gotten her, but she’d transformed while running down an alleyway and had swung out of his reach. 

He’d ranted to her about how it was cheating for all of patrol. She’s just flicked his bell and insisted that the chase was the best part. He’d grumbled and finally let her have it, saying “I’ll get you. Just watch.” 

But he’s not wrong. It is nice. She’s finally getting to know Adrien. She’s learning about the cat behind the mask. 

Who would’ve thought that they would bond so much through a game of assassin? 

* * *

“You can’t assassinate me as Chat,” Marinette reminds him as she lets him into her room. 

He smirks and leans forward, pressing their noses together. “Why would I want to assassinate you, LB?”

“Mhm. Why are you here?” 

“Just escaping my house for a bit,” he admits. “It was lonely.” 

It’s now been an entire week since him and Marinette became the final two. Everyone is tense and on edge. It’s been a wild dance. And honestly, he doesn’t really want it to end. 

He loves how easy it is to sit with Marinette and just talk. Once they’d gotten past the awkwardness and terror of the reveal, it was so easy. It’s nice to be able to contact her every minute of the day, talk to her whenever he wants. 

And it was incredibly fun teaming up with her. They’re a good team, as superheroes and civilians. He just wishes there was some way to tell her that without it seeming weird. He doesn’t think there is. He think it might just have to be weird. 

He drops his transformation at one point. Marinette doesn’t even blink. She just continues on with the conversation. 

Adrien can’t help but think about how gorgeous she is. She’s so beautiful. Everything about her is just beautiful. He regrets not getting to know Marinette earlier. 

* * *

Marinette looks up to meet Adrien’s eyes. He’s watching her with a slightly dazed look, like his mind is elsewhere. “Adrien?” 

He blinks, but the look doesn’t exactly go away. “Hm?” 

“Everything okay?” 

Adrien just keeps looking at her. 

Marinette’s breath catches in her throat as Adrien leans forward, eyes fluttering shut. 

Oh. 

She doesn’t remember when they got so close on the bed, but they’re already so close, the distance shrinking as Adrien moves towards her. 

This is happening. 

She moves to close the space between them, remembering how easy it had been to kiss him last time once they got past the possession part. It had been easy and left her breathless. And she had lied to herself and told herself she hadn’t enjoyed it. She moves forward to seal the kiss—

Cold marker touches her neck. 

Her eyes widen and she jerks backward. “You piece of  _ shit _ !” 

Adrien laughs, holding up one of the red Sharpies that had been laying on her bed. “I’m  _ your  _ piece of shit.”

Marinette scowls and crosses her arms. “Maybe I don’t want you anymore,” she says, turning up her nose. 

“Aww, my Lady,” he says, practically purring. He leans forward and nuzzles his cheek against hers. 

She slumps. “I hate you.” 

“No you don’t,” Adrien insists. He lifts his head up so their noses are brushing. “You don’t hate me.”

He kisses her and it’s soft and wonderful and everything she’s ever wanted. 

“I hate you,” Marinette mutters as she pulls away.

“Hate me so much you won’t give me the code?” 

She hits him with a pillow.

* * *

“I can’t believe he got you,” Alya says, staring at Adrien. He winks at her. 

“Dude, how’d he finally get you?” Nino asks. The entire class nods, eager to hear and annoyed they missed it. 

Adrien looks to Marinette, eyebrows raised. 

She sighs. “He ambushed me outside the bakery this morning,” she says, lying effortlessly. “I thought he had something before school today.”

“Gotchya,” Adrien says, tugging on her ponytail. 

“I hate you,” she grumbles. 

Alya shakes her head. “Unbelievable.” 

“I can’t believe I didn’t get to  _ see it _ ,” Alix complains. 

“Maybe next year,” Adrien says with a shrug. 

Marinette grabs him by the shirt. “Be ready, next year, you’re going to  _ die _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!! AHHH!! this was literally so much fun, thank you all for indulging me  <333
> 
> feel free to scream to me about this bc i have so many more ideas omg 
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](http://buglad.tumblr.com/my-fics)! let's scream!


	4. alternate ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an alternate ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i had two of these and people on tumblr convinced me to write them. this one i didn't use because it seemed a little more unlikely to me (i'll explain in end notes) and because it would've taken me longer. anyway
> 
> **EDIT:** i know initially this said 5 chapters, meaning there'd be another alternate ending. i did play around with the other ending i had in mind for actually a really long time, but there's a reason i didn't go with it. i decided i really don't like it and i really don't want to share it, so i apologize if anyone was waiting for that. personally, i still stand by my original ending, and i hope that you all can at least sort of see my thought process and why i went with it. even if you can't, thank you for being respectful of what i did choose. enjoy!

“You can’t assassinate me as Chat,” Marinette reminds him as she lets him into her room.

He smirks and leans forward, pressing their noses together. “Why would I want to assassinate you, LB?”

“Mhm. Why are you here?”

“Just escaping my house for a bit,” he admits. “It was lonely.”

It’s now been an entire week since him and Marinette became the final two. Everyone is tense and on edge. It’s been a wild dance. And honestly, he doesn’t really want it to end.

He loves how easy it is to sit with Marinette and just talk. Once they’d gotten past the awkwardness and terror of the reveal, it was so easy. It’s nice to be able to contact her every minute of the day, talk to her whenever he wants.

And it was incredibly fun teaming up with her. They’re a good team, as superheroes and civilians. He just wishes there was some way to tell her that without it seeming weird. He doesn’t think there is. He think it might just have to be weird.

He drops his transformation at one point. Marinette doesn’t even blink. She just continues on with the conversation.

Adrien can’t help but think about how gorgeous she is. She’s so beautiful. Everything about her is just beautiful. He regrets not getting to know Marinette earlier.

* * *

Marinette looks up to meet Adrien’s eyes. He’s watching her with a slightly dazed look, like his mind is elsewhere. “Adrien?”

He blinks, but the look doesn’t exactly go away. “Hm?”

“Everything okay?”

Adrien just keeps looking at her.

Marinette’s breath catches in her throat as Adrien leans forward, eyes fluttering shut.

Oh.

She doesn’t remember when they got so close on the bed, but they’re already so close, the distance shrinking as Adrien moves towards her. She grabs onto the sheets to ground herself. 

This is happening.

* * *

It’s sort of an out of body experience. He hadn’t been planning to kiss Marinette, or even been thinking about it. It was just happening. One second he was looking into her eyes and the next his eyes were closing as he moved closer to her. 

He can feel her warm breath. His heart pounds and he tries to figure out how to stop his mind from going into overdrive. 

He freezes just as their lips brush together. 

Marinette laughs and pulls away, keeping the Sharpie pressed to his neck. “Gotchya.” 

Adrien stares at her. “Et tu, Brute?” he whispers. 

She draws something on his neck before capping the Sharpie. “I win,” she teases. 

Adrien rests his back against her wall. “Wow. _Wow._ ”

“I still love you, kitten,” she says, “but like Alya says, there’s no love in assassin.” 

He looks up at her in surprise. “Wait, what?” 

Marinette blushes furiously and looks away. “N-nothing!” 

Adrien sits up. “You…” 

“I— It’s just…” She buries her head in her hands. 

“Do you mean it?” 

Marinette looks up in surprise. “What do you mean?” 

Adrien shrugs. “I don’t know, do you mean it? I just… It doesn’t seem like anyone who says it to me means it.” 

“Of course I mean it, Adrien,” she says softly. She reaches a hand out, hesitating it slightly before cupping his cheek. “I’m always going to mean it.” 

* * *

Marinette blinks in surprise as Adrien pushes himself off the wall and kisses her hard. She leans into the kiss, smiling when his own hands come up to cup her face. 

Adrien pulls away and rests his forehead on hers. “Okay. Just making sure before I said it back.” 

She tenses. “What?” 

“I love you too.” He presses their noses together. “Took me long enough to say it.” 

Marinette shakes her head and brushes her fingers against the heart she drew on his neck. “I don’t mind.” 

“Will you mind if I refuse to give you my code?” 

“ _Yes.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i just thought it was less likely that marinette would've gotten adrien in this scenario, because i genuinely do think she would've frozen up a bit. or at least not have gotten him because she didn't know the kiss was coming. anyway. i don't know if this ending makes a ton of sense, people just wanted to see mari win and i had endings where that happened.

**Author's Note:**

> part one of three!! hopefully part two will be up tomorrow ;)
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](http://buglad.tumblr.com/tagged/my-fics)! (you can reblog this and scream about these nerds playing assassin over there!)


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